Spitfire Heaven..............

This is fantastic!

If you ever come to Australia make sure to go to the Temora Aviation Museum.
 
SpitfireIX said:
Okay, now I'm confused. This linked article says they're Mark XIVs, but I thought the earlier articles said they were Mk. IIs. :confused:
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For the timeframe and where they were, if extant they are more likely to be Mk.XIV's I understand. The original Telegraph article had a few confusions/errors around the circumstances of the burials.
 
bigkevs said:
This is fantastic!

If you ever come to Australia make sure to go to the Temora Aviation Museum.
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David Lowy from Westfields established the Temora Museum. When you enter his private offices, there is a huge back-lighted photo of him flying a Hurricane. David Lowy also likes playing guitar......so he bought The Angels (a popular Aussie rock band). Rich people who open public museums are simply good people in my books.
 
Huttosaurus said:
For the timeframe and where they were, if extant they are more likely to be Mk.XIV's I understand. The original Telegraph article had a few confusions/errors around the circumstances of the burials.
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In 1945 i doubt VERY much that they would have shipped MK II spits anywhere but the garbage dump (unfortunately) so the MK XIV sounds very plausible. Could be MK VIII also, they were used a lot in the far east.

Great find BUT i have to admit i find the MK XIV not quite as interesting as a MK IX or earlier models. It seems like the engine is "too big" for the plane. BUT if they can't restore the airplanes as such at least they will have a lot of Griffons and that may keep one or two Schackeltons flying which would be great. :)
 
Huttosaurus said:
For the timeframe and where they were, if extant they are more likely to be Mk.XIV's I understand. The original Telegraph article had a few confusions/errors around the circumstances of the burials.
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I may have misunderstood, but I got the impression from the previous articles that they were shipped to Burma earlier in the war, but never uncrated or used.
 
I hate to say this, but I doubt that after so long in such conditions and under such a weight of soil that anything recognisable as a Spitfire will emerge.

There may be a layer of 'plane shaped corrosion.:eek:

Fingers crossed that I am wrong.
 
ReverendClog said:
I hate to say this, but I doubt that after so long in such conditions and under such a weight of soil that anything recognisable as a Spitfire will emerge.

There may be a layer of 'plane shaped corrosion.:eek:

Fingers crossed that I am wrong.
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I'm inclined/resigned toward that position as well, but hopeful at the same time...
 
I read an article claiming that the Hawker Hurricane was actually much more important in the Battle of Britain. Is this true?
 
AFAIK the Hurricane destroyed more enemy aircraft than the Spitfire.
 
TubbaBlubba said:
I read an article claiming that the Hawker Hurricane was actually much more important in the Battle of Britain. Is this true?
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Hurricanes were in service in larger numbers and were more rugged than the Spitfire. The Spitfire (with the same engine) had a performance edge, was more maneuverable and had better pilot visibility.
When coordinated attacks were possible the pattern was that the Spitfires would engage the escorting fighters while the Hurricanes would press in to attack the bombers. For racking up kills this put the Hurricanes at an advantage. The German bombers were quite vulnerable, the fighters were a closer match.
 
Fighter command had roughly twice as many Hurricanes during the BoB, so naturally they would destroy more enemy planes. The usual pattern, when practical, was for the Spitfires to engage the fighters while the Hurricanes attacked the bombers. I also recall reading somewhere that the Hurricane was slightly better against bombers because its guns, while identical to the Spitfire's, converged to a tighter pattern.
 
tim said:
Hre's a clip of 16 Spitfires together in 2010. It represents about 40% of those remaining in flying condition.......... now we may have another 20...........
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That very last pass must have been like living a nightmare if you were on the ground, and that thing had its guns blazing....
 
ReverendClog said:
I hate to say this, but I doubt that after so long in such conditions and under such a weight of soil that anything recognisable as a Spitfire will emerge.

There may be a layer of 'plane shaped corrosion.:eek:

Fingers crossed that I am wrong.
Click to expand...
Earlier in the thread someone has reported that the planes were in crates, packed in grease and buried on purpose.

Yuri
 
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